We’re going to wrap this blog up now. A deserved point for Manchester United, and a piece of history for Wayne Rooney. Disappointment for Stoke, who looked to have done enough, but they just couldn’t hold it at at the end.
Thanks for reading. Bye!
Wayne Rooney breaks Bobby Charlton's Man United scoring record
A 43-year-old Manchester United record is broken: 250 goals in 546 appearances for Rooney. What an achievement.
Here’s the man himself: “It’s a great honour. I’m very proud. It’s difficult at the minute to be too pleased because of the result, but it’s a huge honour for me and something I never expected.
“It’s been great. Very successful and a lot more to come. I’m really proud and hopefully there’s more to come.
“Today could be vital for us come the end of the season. There’s a long way to go but we just have to try to keep picking up points”
Well, what a finish. Wayne Rooney came up big right at the end with a superb direct free kick to score his 250th Manchester United goal, become the club’s all-time record goalscorer, and earn his time a fully merited point. Stoke just couldn’t hang on.
Full-time: Stoke 1-1 Manchester United
That’s it.
90 min +5 What a superb free kick from Rooney. Grant was completely fooled. And a deserved point for the visitors!
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GOAL! Stoke 1-1 Manchester United (Rooney 90+4)
Brilliant! Rooney snatches an equaliser direct from the free kick, and breaks Man United’s scoring record! Incredible!
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90 min +3 Rashford is taken down by Allen, cynically. Big chance here for United from the set piece. On the corner of the penalty box, left side. Everyone is forward.
90 min +2 Jones looks long for Lingard, but again it’s overhit.
90 min +1 Rashford fizzes one across the face of goal, but no United player attacked it.
90 min Five minutes of stoppage time. Still a chance for the visitors.
88 min Rashford fouls Johnson by the corner flag. Stoke are minutes away from a famous victory. It’d be wrong to say they’ve deserved it, but they’ve battled hard. Can United find a late equaliser?
87 min Lingard hits the crossbar! He found a yard of space 20 yards from goal, and hit it well, but it clipped the top of the bar as Grant stood and watched. Stoke’s final sub: Arnautovic is replaced by Imboula.
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85 min Pogba runs through the middle after Whelan tried to foul him, but he gets the shot all wrong. Time running out for United.
83 min Shout for a penalty from Man United – did Shawcross handball it? Clattenburg said no, but that was intemperate from Shawcross; that could easily have gone against him.
82 min Stoke look knackered. They’ve covered so much ground in this second half. Arnautovic concedes yet another corner.
81 min Valencia teased it in, Herrera got up well, and Rooney headed the follow-up over the bar. Decent chance.
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79 min This is completely one-way traffic. Can Stoke hold on?
78 min Pogba with a blast! He hit it well, with his left foot, but Grant had it covered, and saw it behind for a goal kick.
76 min Rashford with a chance! Rooney crossed from the right, Rashford was free on the edge of the box, and tried to place it, but it was a foot wide.
74 min Stoke can’t get out of their own half, but United just can’t find a way through. Rooney looks for Lingard, but it’s just slightly overhit, and out of play.
72 min Final change for United, and perhaps a strange one: Lingard replaces Mkhitaryan. Stoke with a substitution, too: Shaqiri off, Ngoy on.
70 min A rare Stoke attack is defended well by Man United, and the visitors come again. Stoke are under serious pressure here.
68 min United are seeing all of the ball. They’re now 4-2-4, with Rooney and Ibrahimovic up front, Rashford wide left, and Mkhitaryan on the right.
67 min Rooney replaces Mata. In the stands, Bobby Charlton, whose 249-goal Man United record Rooney shares, watches on.
66 min Pogba feeds Mkhitaryan, who shoots for goal, but he can’t get the power, and Grant saves easily.
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64 min Rashford is completely blocked off on the edge of the box by Shawcross, and Mark Clattenburg says no. Rashford can’t believe it, and neither can I.
63 min Change for Stoke: Afellay replaces Charlie Adam.
61 min Rashford has gone out to the left flank, and looks to have the beating of Johnson. Expect United to give him plenty of the ball. Elsewhere, Pieters is booked for some infraction or other.
60 min Now then. Was that handball by Stoke in the box? Pogba and Mata combined well, and Pieters slid in on the edge of the six-yard box. The ball definitely bounced on to his trailing hand, but it looked like a pure accident, and Clattenburg said no.
59 min Johnson heads behind under no pressure. Corner for United, but Stoke hammer it clear.
58 min Pogba runs through an empty hole in the Stoke midfield, and feeds Ibrahimovic with a clever through ball, but the Swede had gone too early, and he’s correctly pulled up for offside. Stoke need to stop this United train, though.
56 min Charlie Adam is spoken to after a late tackle on Ibrahimovic. Fellaini, who’s done OK, is replaced by Marcus Rashford in Man United’s first change.
54 min Joe Allen goes down in the box, and Stoke fans scream for a penalty, but Mark Clattenburg says no. The right decision.
53 min Fellaini and Adam, two of this game’s spunkier characters, are involved in a midfield dispute. Warning: contains mild peril.
51 min Fellaini heads back across goal, and Mata misses with an acrobatic volley. But United have really shown some purpose in this second half. Stoke are already on the back foot.
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50 min Arnautovic is penalised for handball, and this is a good chance for United from the free kick. Mata crosses, but it’s headed clear by Martins Indi.
49 min Mkhitaryan’s been excellent today. He’s taken up some fine positions, and he’s such a quick dribbler. Another nice link-up with Mata, but Stoke get bodies back.
47 min Good start from United. Mkhitaryan dribbles into the box, and Stoke look at sixes and sevens, but Ibrahimovic is whistled for an offside when he was probably on.
46 min We’re back. Fellaini and Mata are still on the field – for the time being.
A strange game. Stoke took the lead with a lucky deflection, but then seemed to stop playing. United have had all the ball in the last 20 minutes or so, but just couldn’t get the goal their play merited. And Juan Mata’s had a bad day: an own goal followed by an open-goal miss. It wasn’t quite Ronny Rosenthal-esque, but it was bad enough. United should be level, but they’re not.
See you in a short while!
Half-time: Stoke 1-0 Manchester United
That’s the whistle.
45 min Chance for Stoke on the break, but Shaqiri’s ball for Crouch is rotten. One minute of added time.
44 min A minute till half-time, and Stoke could do with a break. Philip Brennan has a prediction: “Ibrahimovic will score the winner in 93rd minute.”
42 min And another save from Grant to deny Pogba! Stoke left Pogba totally unmarked, and he absolutely laced one on the volley, but it was straight at the goalie. Stoke hanging on a bit now.
41 min United win a free kick right on the corner of the box, left side. In by Blind, Shawcross heads clear, and then Fellaini works Grant on the follow-up. Decent effort on the volley, but he hit it into the ground, and Grant was able to tip it over the bar.
39 min Grant saves well from Pogba’s shot after more good United passing, but the whistle had gone for offside. The right decision.
Mark Childs is no fan of Marouane: “1) His inclusion forces Herrera or Pogba to hold. They are both better attackers than Fellaini. 2) In the next 55 mins, please show me evidence of a single skilful, positive touch that Fellaini adds to United. A United fan who likes where the team is going, but is infuriated by Fellaini.”
37 min Mkhitaryan places a shot into the second tier when well placed. But this is better from Man United. Stoke are very much in defensive mode at the moment.
Here’s Adam Hirst: “Fellaini is very useful, just that he’s in the wrong sport. If only he’d been born in France instead of Belgium. More second-row than centre-midfield.”
34 min Now Ibrahimovic goes through from Mkhitaryan’s clever pass, but he tries to find Mata, and Stoke get bodies back. Oh, that was a chance for a free shot: he should have gone for goal instead of squaring it.
32 min It’s not been Mata’s day. That was an absolute sitter.
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31 min Oh, Mata! How did he miss? Stoke got caught, and Ibrahimovic escaped down the left. Ibrahimovic took it on, pushed a pass across the six-yard box, taking Grant out of it, and Mata just coaxed it over the bar from about eight yards! Martins Indi perhaps put him off by scrambling back, but that was an open goal, and Mata should have buried it. What a miss!
29 min Here’s Harptic, on email: “Fellaini, unable to make a tackle without conceding a free/penalty, yet much eulogised in the media this week, concedes the free kick which directly leads to the Stoke goal. I hope the boos return.”
I think Fellaini’s OK, actually. Granted, he’s not exactly Gerson, is he, but he’s reasonably effective, and versatile, too. Maybe not quite top-level, perhaps.
27 min Ibrahimovic hasn’t really been in the game yet. Shawcross and Martins Indi have done well. Now Fellaini with a header from 15 yards, but it’s a comfortable save for Lee Grant. It was a high, hanging centre, and Fellaini just couldn’t get the power.
25 min Blind has time and space on the left, and he crosses straight into Grant’s arms. It’s just not happening for United in attack at the moment.
23 min Mourinho, in a big coat and snood, looks nonplussed. United have done OK so far, though; it was just a bit of bad luck on the goal.
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20 min Well, that might end up going down as an own goal. Arnautovic and Pieters worked it nicely, and Pieters charged up from left back into the box. Mata went with him, and as Pieters crossed, Mata got a telling deflection that pushed it past de Gea at his near post. Unlucky for Man United – it just sneaked through the gap.
Looking again on the replay, that’s surely going to be changed to a Mata own goal.
GOAL! Stoke 1-0 Manchester United (Mata og 19)
But now they have! A lucky deflection off Mata, and Stoke lead!
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17 min A slight lull. United have been extremely solid in this opening period, and the Stoke fans haven’t had much to cheer.
15 min Mata and Valencia got mixed up, and suddenly Stoke had a chance to break, but Adam smacked it straight out of play with several players in support. A shame.
13 min Neither goalkeeper has really been tested yet, but it’s good enough. Mkhitaryan is slightly late on Charlie Adam, but no further sanction for the Armenian.
11 min Fellaini, who has a history with Ryan Shawcross on this ground, is the target, but Stoke do enough to clear.
9 min It’s been a pleasing start. Stoke are looking to push United back, but the visitors look a threat on the break, and Pieters has to be alert to clear the danger from Ibrahimovic’s clever pass. Corner.
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7 min Played in, and Lee Grant drops it! Ibrahimovic can’t quite get there on the follow up. Stoke were slightly fortunate there.
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6 min Smalling goes in hard on Allen, and is perhaps slightly fortunate to escape a booking. Played in from the free kick, but Herrera does well to head it clear. Man United break, and Arnautovic is booked for bringing down Mkhitaryan.
4 min Man United with a spell of possession after a good first couple of minutes from Stoke.
2 min Arnautovic escapes down the left side, takes on Valencia, and Smalling concedes the throw. Stoke take it short, and it’s wasted.
1 min We’re off. Early touch for Peter Crouch, who’s looking for his 100th Premier League goal.
Just a couple of minutes away. The players are out on the pitch.
You can keep up to date with all the other games here, with Nick Miller:
A note on today’s teams: Stoke are unchanged, but Man United make four of them. Chris Smalling comes in for Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind is in for Matteo Darmian, Marouane Fellaini replaces Michael Carrick, and Juan Mata shoves aside Anthony Martial. New Potters signing Saido Berahino doesn’t make the squad.
Apologies for my idiotic boob just then: Stoke, of course, play at the Bet365 Stadium, formerly the Britannia. My mistake. It was all so much easier with the Victoria Ground, though.
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Liverpool 2-3 Swansea
What a result for Swansea! They’ve beaten Liverpool 3-2 at Anfield. Terrific. Well done to the Swans.
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Today's lineups
Stoke: Grant, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters, Whelan, Adam, Shaqiri, Allen, Arnautovic, Crouch. Subs: Bardsley, Muniesa, Afellay, Imbula, Given, Krkic, Ngoy.
Man Utd: de Gea, Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Blind, Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Pogba, Mata, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan. Subs: Rooney, Lingard, Carrick, Rashford, Romero, Schweinsteiger, Darmian.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
It’s quite a game at Anfield. Last seconds here:
Hello and welcome
More intrigue in the Premier League today, as Manchester United travel the short distance south to take on Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. United are unbeaten in their past 10 matches, although their winning run did come to an end against Liverpool last weekend. And Jose Mourinho knows very well what to expect from Stoke: “They can play direct but they have quality as well,” the United manager said in the week.
Stoke started the season dreadfully, but they’ve had a good recent run, thanks in no small part to the ageless Peter Crouch, and they sit in ninth – their usual spot. Shawcross, Ibrahimovic, Arnautovic, Fellaini – if you like your footballers big, strong and angry, this game’s for you. Join us at 3pm local time.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why David de Gea is back in favour:
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